Refrigerating apparatus



H A X a N 4 R 3 m E O ma; O m m \M J 0 {K N 4 i 7 \Rmm a Mr J 1 W E A MW A L. A. PHILIPP REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Original Filed April 22, 1935Oct. 25, 1938 Patented Oct. 21", 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICREFRIGERATIN G APPARATUS Lawrence A. Philipp, Detroit, Mich., assignor,by

mesne assignments, to Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, Detroit, Mich., acorporation of Maryland Application April 22, 1935. Serial No. 17,692Renewed March 3, 1938 2 Claims.

finned cooling unit and a motor driven fan mounted above the coolingunit for circulating 10 the air in the compartment over the cooling unitaround the freezing section in the cooling zone.

It is also an object of my invention to provide such a refrigeratorhaving a combined freezing chamber and cooling unit mounted in spacedrel5 lation adjacent the top wall and one of the side 'walls of thecabinet having vertically disposed heat conductive fins projecting fromthe side of v the cooling unit adjacent the side wall of the cabinet anda, motor driven fan .for circulating the air from the upper centralportion of the compartment to flow over the cooling unit toward andbetween the side wall of the compartment and the adjacent fins of thecooling unit. It is a further object of my invention to provide arefrigerator 'of the above type comprising a freezing chamber which ismounted in spaced relation adjacent the top wall of the compartment andhaving a separate cooling unit mounted behind the freezing chamber withan 0 associated motor driven fan for circulating the air in thecompartment in heat exchange relation through the cooling unit towardthe upper wall of the compartment for deflection around the freezingchamber and uniform distribution 7 5 around the compartment.

The invention itself,'h.owever, both as to its organization and itsmethod of operation, together with additional objects and advantagesthereof, will best be understood from the following description ofspecific embodiments, when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view showing a section taken transverselythrough a forced con- L vection refrigerator arranged in accordance withmy invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan sectional view, taken on line -II-II of Fig. 3, showinga modified embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view thereof, taken on line III-III ofFig. 2.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the refrigeratorconsists of a food storage compartment I enclosed by a suitable heatinsulated cabinet 3 and cooled by a cooling unit 5, which is mounted inthe upper portion thereof. The cooling unit comprises an enclosure 1having freezing plates 9 which are mounted therein in vertically spacedrelation for supporting trays for freezing ice cubes or any desired 5material therein. The freezing shelves 9 are mounted spaced from theside walls of the enclosure 1 and they may comprise either serpentinecoils of refrigerant receiving conduit secured .to the shelf plates inintimate heat exchange re- 10 lation therewith or they may comprise flatrefrigerant receiving housings which in either form are arranged forreceiving vaporizable refrigerant in series parallel relationin a wellknown manner.

The lower portion of the freezing chamber l preferably comprises a coldcompartment consisting of a separate enclosure II for freezing dessertsor other -material requiring a lower freezing temperature.- The sidewall of the com-- bined cooling unit freezing chamber adjacent the sidewall of the cabinet is provided with coils l3 of refrigerant receivingconduit which are attached thereto in close coupled thermal relation asby welding or soldering. The outer surface of the same freezing chamberwall supporting coils I3 is provided with vertically disposed heatconductive fins I5 which are secured thereto in spaced relation as bywelding or soldering. The refrigerant receiving conduit means within thecooling unit 5 are operatively connected to receive vaporizable liquidrefrigerant in series or parallel series arrangement, from any suitablesource, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

A small electric motor I I is mounted on the top wall of the coolingunit 5 in the space between the freezing chamber and the top wall of thecabinet with an air deflecing fan [9 secured on the end of its shaft.The motor I! may be con- 40 nected for energization simultaneously withthe refrigerant compressor motor or cooling unit or it may be connecteddirectly to the line for continuous operation if desired. The motordrives the fan in a suitable direction for circulating the air from theupper central portion of the compartment over the cooling unit 5. Theair is then deflected from the adjacent side wall 20 and is forceddownwardly, as indicated by the arrows, and passes through thevertically disposed heat conductive fins l5 projecting from the sidewall of the cooling'unit. If desired a drip pan 2| may be disposed underthe cooling unit.

In accordance with my invention' the air in the compartment is thus'circulatedat a high velocity through the heat conductive fins aroundthe cooling unit, either continuously or while the refrigerant supplycompressor is operated. In this manner the temperature of the air withinthe food storage compartment is maintained substantially uniform in allpositions in the compartment, and the desired degree of refrigeration isobtained from the cooling unit which may be operated at a suflicientlyhigh temperature to avoid freezing the moisture which condenses thereonfrom the circulating air. Since the moisture is not frozen out of theair in the form of frost, a portion of it returns to the circulating airand its humidity is substantially maintained. The optimum condition forpreserving food in the storage compartment is thus substantiallymaintained and the severe dehydration of the food products is avoided.

In accordance with the embodiment of my in-' vention disclosed in Figs.2 and 3, a freezing chamber 25 is mounted in spaced relation from therear wall 21 of the cabinet providing sufficient space for mounting anopen finned cooling unit 29 therebetween. The cooling unit 29 may besupported by brackets ill on the freezing chamber or any other suitablemanner, and it comprises a well known construction of coiled conduithaving heat conductive fins. In this embodiment, the air in thecompartment is cooled by circulating it through the independent coolingunit, and for the purpose of moving the air therethrough at highvelocity a motor driven fan 33 is suspended thereabove from the upperwall of the cabinet. The electric motor 35 may be of any type suitablefor driving a fan and it is removably secured to the upper wall 31 ofthe cabinet by an extension 39 which is inserted above a bracket 4| inthe side wall, and a screw clamp 42 which engages a laterally projectingarm 43 extending from the opposite side of the motor frame. The screwclamp projects downwardly from the top wall 31 of the compartment andcarries a threaded wing nut 45 by which the motor may be readily clampedin position. In order to complete the energizating connection for themotor'35, two prongs 41 on the motor assembly are plugged into twofemale sockets 49 in the upper wall 31 of the cabinet.

The electric connections may be extended from the sockets throughconductors 5| in the cabinet walls to a suitable source of electricalenergy. The motor 35 may be energized either continuously, or inparallel with the compressor motor (not shown) for operationsimultaneously therewith, as desired. After the air is drawn upwardlythrough the cooling coils 29 it impinges against the upper wall of thecabinet thus distributing it.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the freezing chamber 25 may beof any conventional construction for supporting trays to freeze icecubes or desserts, and the finned cooling unit may be operativelyinterconnected with'refrigerant expansion coils' in the freezing chamberfor receiving liquid refrigerant from any suitable source.

It will be seen that I have provided an improved forced convectionrefrigerator wherein the desired degree of refrigeration is obtained bymoving a large volume of air over the cooling surfaces provided in aconcentrated cooling zone formed by mounting freezing and cooling meansin adjacent spaced relation from the top wall and a side wall or cornerof the compartment to be cooled whereby frosting and defrosting areeliminated, and the cooled air is distributed to maintain uniformtemperatures throughout the food storage compartment.

Aside from the specific embodiments of the invention herein shown anddescribed, it will be understood that numerous details of theconstruction may be altered or omitted without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed, and that I do notdesire to limit the invention to the exact constructions herein setforth.

I claim as my invention:

1. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a cabinet, an enclosure withinsaid cabinet enclosing a low temperature zone and having a wall exposedto the circulating air in said cabinet for cooling said circulating air,heat absorbing means within the space enclosed by said enclosure andshielded from the direct contact from said circulating air including aportion thermally associated with said wall for cooling the circulatingair to the desired temperature and above the prevailing temperatureexisting within said enclosure, and means for directing the flow of airtoward said wall.

2. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a cabinet, an enclosure withinsaid cabinet enclosing a low temperature zone, including a wallpositioned in close proximity to a wall of the cabinet to provide an aircooling zone, and heat absorbing means including a portion positioned insaid low temperature zone for maintaining low temperatures in said lowtemperature zone and a portion positioned for cooling the circulatingair as it passes through said air cooling zone, and a fan for directingthe flow of air through said air cooling zone.

LAWRENCE A. PHILIPP.

